Roberto Martínez has responded to criticism of his defensive record at Everton and Wigan Athletic with the frank admission he would never base a performance around keeping a clean sheet.

No team has conceded more goals at home in the Premier League this season than Everton, with Swansea City’s victory at Goodison Park on Sunday increasing that tally to 22. By contrast, only three Premier League teams have conceded fewer goals on their travels than Everton. They have lost only once away in the league, at Arsenal, and are the only side to have prevented Manchester City scoring at the Etihad Stadium this term.

Another clean sheet at City on Wednesday would take Martínez’s team into the Capital One Cup final, with Everton holding a 2-1 advantage from the semi-final first leg. But their manager, who faced similar criticism when Wigan were relegated in 2013 having conceded 73 goals, insists he would never approach a game focusing solely on stopping the opposition.

“My philosophy and my way of working is not to keep clean sheets, my philosophy is to win games,” he said. “It’s a very general assessment to say we don’t defend well. If you look at our defensive record away from home this season and our record at home, it’s completely the opposite. That doesn’t mean we play in a different manner away from home – we’ve got the same personnel, the same way of playing – so there are aspects that are affecting the manner of goals we are conceding.”

“As a manager, I want to defend but would I base the performance on wanting to keep a clean sheet? No. I base the performance on getting on the ball, having a big role, dictating and having a positive approach and scoring goals. Our team is top in the league for goals scored from open play.

“That’s down to the talent we have and the work we do, but that doesn’t mean I would neglect defending. You have to do both. I think that’s an easy way of giving a view on something, you have to go a bit deeper and my philosophy is winning games, not keeping clean sheets. Other managers prefer to be defensive, give you the ball and then there’s always an error. What I like is an action that’s about winning games and achieving things.”

Martínez insists it would be a “big mistake” to approach the second leg with a completely defensive mindset against a City team with the most Premier League goals at home this season. Manuel Pellegrini’s side have scored 33 Premier League goals at the Etihad. Everton are second on the list with 24 at Goodison.

The Everton manager said: “It has to be a complete performance against this team. If you concentrate on defending there’ll be a moment when they break you down. We kept a clean sheet against them 11 days ago, we’re the only team to do that at the Etihad this season. We know what we have to do but I don’t think it’s enough to try and keep a clean sheet, you have to have a threat and have to dictate the game. I’ll send a team out there to win. It would be a danger to try to go out to keep a clean sheet. When you get to 80 minutes you can start to think about where you are in the tie but not earlier. It would be a big mistake.”